


Tell Me Now You Know

by TreeCat4TrueNorth



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-20 15:07:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30006753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TreeCat4TrueNorth/pseuds/TreeCat4TrueNorth
Summary: Catra and Adora were best friends in high school. They haven't spoken in fifteen years.Then Adora texts Catra and asks to meet up.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 52





	Tell Me Now You Know

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic. Please be kind. Should this become a thing? More chapters?

Catra chews anxiously on the inside of her cheek as she crosses the street. Her body screams at her, _don’t do this._ She forces the feeling down. _It’s now or never. Here goes._ She walks into the coffee shop. Adora is sitting at a small table just inside the door, fiddling with her phone.

“Hey, Adora.” 

She looks up, blue eyes wide and full of uncertainty as Catra approaches. “Catra! I wasn’t sure you were going to show up.”

Catra winces. “You never did have much faith in me, did you?” She scans the small, bright shop, feeling exposed and conspicuous. “I’m going to get coffee. You want anything?”

Adora shakes her head, picking up the mug in front of her.

Catra feels her legs moving her toward the front counter, but she can’t think or focus right now. Her pulse echoes loud in her ears. She stares at the counter.

“Good morning! And what can I get started for you?” the barista asks cheerfully.

Catra wills herself to focus. “Uh… fuck. I don’t know. Coffee? Medium.”

“Coming right up!”

Catra pays and makes her way to the end of the counter. While she waits, she looks around the coffee shop, but she can’t focus on anything but Adora across the room. Catra watches her sideways. Adora looks tired, her hair is shorter and messy now, her eyes still that brilliant blue. Catra notes the gold wedding band on Adora’s finger, but she expected that. She knows that Adora has been married for five years now. Catra has never met him but has seen pictures of the couple on social media. Catra tries not to think about them – it is part of what has kept her away all this time. Until Adora’s text last week. Catra still doesn’t know why Adora is here in San Francisco, a thousand miles from home. Or why she wanted to meet up with Catra.

The barista slides the mug across the counter, noting Catra’s pained expression. “You okay?” Catra shakes her head absently, takes the mug, and steps back without answering.

Catra’s hands are shaking and her coffee sloshes over the side of her mug, making a puddle on the table as she sits down across from Adora. Catra isn’t sure how to start. “You wanted to talk?”

“I know it’s been a long time.” Adora is trying so hard. “I – just wanted to catch up, you know, see if we could – be friends again. Or something. How are you?”

Catra dislikes small talk. She answers succinctly. “I’m good. I like San Francisco. My job is okay, I have some good friends now, dating some, can’t complain. How about you? What brought you out here anyway?”

“I needed some time to myself. I had a really hard year, a lot of stuff happened, and I feel like a different person now. I’m not sure how to explain it but I felt like I had to come back here to find myself again.”

“Any reason why you didn’t bring…” Catra gestures to Adora’s wedding ring.

“Yeah, that’s part of why I’m down here. By myself. We might be splitting up. I don’t really know. I’m trying to figure out what I want.”

 _Wait, what?_ Catra’s eyes widen. _That’s news._ Catra tries to think of what a supportive friend would say. This is all so uncomfortable. She squirms in her chair. “Do you, uh, want to talk about it?”

“I guess – I always thought being with him was something I had to do. Like a duty. I settled. I thought it was the right thing to do. I didn’t feel like I had a choice, so I didn’t really think about what I wanted. Now I’m realizing that I do get to choose— but I don’t know what I want any more.” Adora looks away. “Anyway, I don’t really want to talk about him, I— wanted to talk to you.”

Catra sighs. “Yeah, about that. It’s been fifteen years. Why now?”

“Okay, this is going to sound weird.” Adora’s face begins to flush with embarrassment. “Promise you won’t laugh?”

Catra nods, wary. “I’ll try not to.”

“I read this story online, and it got me thinking? I know this is crazy but – I just felt like I had to find you.”

Catra snorts and eyes Adora. “What _kind_ of story?”

“It’s about two best friends. They’re really close, and then they get separated for a long time, and they’re sort of enemies? But they still really care about each other and they keep accidentally saving each other’s lives? And then—”

Catra is so confused that she doesn’t even consider teasing Adora. She feels her heartbeat speeding up again. This is not the catching up she planned for. Small talk was safer. _It’s okay. I can do this. “_ And then what?”

Adora blushes even more now. “—eventually it turns out they are in love.”

Catra feels her whole body go cold. _Is this what it sounds like?_ She can’t look at Adora’s face. She stares at the table, the floor, the wall. “Well, this is weird, Adora. You text me after fifteen years of radio silence and ask to meet up, then tell me you were inspired by a love story? In case you forgot, _you’re married_ , Adora. And we’re – not exactly best friends anymore. I don’t even know who you are now. And you don’t know anything about me.”

“Look, I know. I’ve been thinking a lot, going through a lot of stuff lately, and – I don’t know what’s going to happen with my marriage, like I said.” Adora sighs gently and continues. “I guess the main reason I wanted to see you was just to ask – and you don’t have to answer this, Catra – when we were in high school – did you ever like me as more than a friend?”

Catra feels a wave of sadness wash over her and she closes her eyes for a moment. She remembers walking home with Adora from school. The feeling of warm sunshine on her shoulders, laughing and teasing each other. She remembered their first sleepover. Sleeping on the floor of Adora’s room. A puzzle on the wall with primary-colored pieces that spelled out Adora’s name. Catra remembers Adora’s pet bird sitting on her shoulder, singing, while Catra held perfectly still. She remembers Adora sitting next to her on the school bus, sharing a pair of earbuds to listen to music together as the sun rose. Then she remembers Adora’s new friends. The ones who were cooler than Catra, shinier and less afraid. The friends that Adora left for.

Catra knows with certainty what she would have said then. _Psh! No! I don’t like you!_ But she is not that teenager now. Catra opens her eyes and takes a long breath, looking carefully at Adora. She wants to be honest, but she is also cautious. “I think – I’m gonna need you to answer that question yourself first. Please. If it’s okay.”

Catra can tell that Adora is equally terrified, but Adora nods. “That’s fair. Back then I hadn’t realized I liked girls. I just thought – I wanted to be with you all the time. I wanted to look out for you. To make sure you were safe.”

Catra wraps her ankles around her chair, dreading where this is going. _Fuck. I am not ready to have this talk with you. Ever._ She knows what Adora is remembering, though. “Yeah, you always did try to, um, take care of me back then.” Catra steels herself for what’s coming next.

Adora is determined to say this. “I didn’t understand it then. I—I realized a lot later that I, um, totally had a huge crush on you.”

Catra’s mind screams in response. _Why are you telling me this? What am I supposed to do with this now?_ She wonders if there is any way to escape. Right now. Before Adora asks her that question again.

Adora’s looks down as she continues. “I know it’s awkward to hear this,” she cringes, “and you were cool with being friends, I mean I thought you were straight back then, and for sure I don’t even know what I’m doing now. I was really confused then, and – here I am, and I’m confused now too.” Adora sends a pleading look. “God, um, please say something. Really, anything.”

Catra summons all her courage and decides to be honest before she can change her mind. “You’re such an idiot. I definitely liked you too. Like that. I never told you because you were always talking about guys. I figured you weren’t interested.”

Adora stops breathing and stares at Catra.

Catra gives her a sharp look. “That was fifteen years ago. I’ve grown up since then, and I have my own life now. I’m dating, I’m—happy, you know? I found my own way. You weren’t ever really – part of my plan. I didn’t even know it was an option. Even when you came out as bi a few years ago, I was kind of surprised, but it didn’t seem like it meant much because you were already married. Honestly I figured we were never going to talk again.”

Adora sinks back into her chair. Her brain is not working.

Catra stares back at Adora, slowly realizing that Adora didn’t expect this outcome. Catra smirks again, “So uh, you didn’t plan this far, did you?”

Adora looks embarrassed again. “No, I didn’t. I just felt like I had to talk to you. To make sense of everything.”

Catra raises an eyebrow. “Everything?”

“No – yes – I don’t know.” Adora is flustered. “I had to find out.”

“So, what now?”

“Um, I’m not sure—"

“What do you want, Adora?” The weight of the question hangs in the air.

“We don’t really know each other now. Could we try – being friends? For real? I don’t know where this is going, but I want to get to know you again.”

Catra nods, considering. “It might be a little strange though, after everything we just said?”

Adora looks up earnestly. “Can we try? I have a lot of—other stuff, that I’m still working out. It’s all complicated, and confusing, and honestly really hard. Can we just be friends? See how it goes?”

Catra breathes. She really wants to believe Adora. There is a long pause, both of them remembering, hoping, wondering.

“Okay. I’m in.”


End file.
